A slew of strong half-year company results and the news some of Australia’s largest companies have raised their dividends drove shares higher, despite disappointing wages growth data.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 15.4 points, or 0.3 per cent, on Wednesday to 5408.2, while the broader All Ordinaries Index also added 0.3 per cent to 5415.5.

Figures showing national wages grew at their slowest pace in at least 16 years weighed on confidence. Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed the wages index for December was 2.6 higher than a year earlier. It was the weakest reading since records began in 1997. Real wages, accounting for inflation, went backwards last year.

Woodside Petroleum, Wesfarmers, Suncorp and Fortescue Metals joined the raft of companies that have delighted yield hungry investors this month by lifting their interim dividend.

Antares Capital large companies portfolio manger Glenn Hart said most of the ASX top 50 stocks to report half-year results so far have delivered in line with guidance and that his focus is on forward earnings guidance.

“It will be hard for the market to push much above 5200 points until earnings growth multiples improve.”

Mr Hart warned higher dividends alone will not be enough to push the market significantly higher.

“Eighteen months ago the market was all about yield and companies that lifted dividends performed extremely well,” Mr Hart said. “Everyone still loves dividends but the market’s appreciation of them has become more nuanced.”

The local market squeezed out another small gain despite a long afternoon slump, with the ASX 200 closing 15 points, or 0.3 per cent, higher, to 5408.2. The broader All Ords added 13 points to finish at 5415.5.

Shares jumped to a good start this morning as some big corporate names announced earnings and dividend hikes.

Seek led the market higher, jumping 14.3 pr cent to $15.24. Brambles added 2.2 per cent while all the banks gained.

The biggest drags on the market were Wesfarmers, which fell 1.6 per cent, Suncorp (-3.1 per cent) and Toll, which closed 2.2 per cent lower.

Metals and Mining was among the worst performing sectors, shedding 0.8 per cent, with gold miners 1.4 per cent down. BHP and Rio both fell.

Utilities and health care were 1.1 per cent and 0.7 per cent higher, respectively.

1:20pm on 19 Feb 2014

Gold has come off 3-1/2-month highs hit in the previous session as investors reap profits and physical buying subsides.

But worries about global economic growth still underpin gold's safe-haven appeal and technical charts indicate the metal is set to rise.

Gold has eased 0.5 per cent to $US1315 an ounce after touching $US1332.10 an ounce overnight, the strongest since October 31. Bullion has risen around 9 per cent so far this year.

‘‘After breaking $US1300, gold has to consolidate before we can charge higher again," says Ronald Leung, chief dealer at Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in Hong Kong. "Buying is not that aggressive on the physical side.’’

"Approaching $US1320, we saw small lots of buying but also encountered some selling," Leung says.

But gold's technical picture has improved after it breached the tough barrier of $US1300, says Leung. "It's slightly bullish from here. Whether it can break $US1350, we have to see."

The worrying spectre of insider trading in China's IPO market has prompted regulators to tighten control and Beijing may now be forced to scale back the pace of reform, Reuters reports:

The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) let initial public offerings resume in January after a 14-month hiatus, but traders say the authorities are concerned the market is being exploited by connected stakeholders ensuring generous cashouts for insiders.

The CSRC has tightened up rules on IPO pricing, and also stands accused of intimidating some firms into "voluntarily" suspending their listings, despite verbal commitments to stop meddling in the market - an accusation it denies.

"I think this is a total retreat in comparison to other areas of reform in China," said Ding Yuan, professor at the China Europe International Business School in Shanghai who also runs a mutual fund investing in domestic equities.

Ding said that instead of giving markets a "decisive role" as promised, January saw the "most heavily intervened IPO in the history of China".

Drug maker Jiangsu Aosaikang apparently delayed its IPO over concerns the listing was overpriced. "People may have felt like the IPO wasn't politically correct, but it was totally legal. (Aosaikang) followed the regulations to the letter. For me that proves the soap opera we are seeing will continue."

12:34pm on 19 Feb 2014

Following on from that last post, it's worth noting that quite a few of the companies dishing out big dividends today are trading lower:

Fortescue: -2.3% at $5.84

Wesfarmers: -0.8% at $43.05

Suncorp: -2.6% at $12.27

Woodside: -0.8% at $38.19

There's of course also Seek, which is soaring 21.6 per cent to $16.21 - after the jobs website said it would spend half a billion dollars on its expansion into Asia. So investors are rewarding its growth plans, and may be a bit doubtful of the outlook of the above listed companies.

In Suncorp and Woodside’s case, net earnings for the half year actually fell.

There are two things to consider as yield-hungry investors lead the cheer squad for higher payout ratios. Are the generous shareholder returns sustainable and are they coming at the expense of investing in growth?

With low interest rates taking the pressure off reducing debt, investors have been wistfully eyeing the prospects of a special dividend of share buyback. But Wesfarmers, like many companies, is going for a more sustainable approach by jacking up dividend payments while leaving enough money in the bank to go hunting for deals.

Insurer Suncorp is also in a strong capital position despite disappointing the market with weaker-than expected first-half earnings. The 40 per cent increase in its interim dividend looks staggering compared with 4.5 per cent decline in net earnings. But like Wesfarmers, the group has taken on additional capital after selling more than $1 billion in troubled loans to Goldman Sachs last year.

The lack of growth opportunities mean the company has hit the upper end of its 60-80 per cent target payout range.

Regional markets are mixed today, with Japanese investors taking some profits after yesterday's massive rally, while Shanghai has recovered from yesterday's drop:

Japan (Nikkei): -0.5%

Hong Kong: flat

Shanghai: +0.6%

Taiwan: flat

Korea: -0.5%

ASX200: +0.15%

Singapore: +0.4%

New Zealand: +0.3%

‘‘The market has had a good run in the past week,’’ says IG strategist Stan Shamu. ‘‘Unless we’ve got continuing catalysts to push the market higher, investors will stay on the sidelines.’’

11:15am on 19 Feb 2014

Rumours of a possible acquisition by Apple and expectations for a strong fourth quarter drove shares of Tesla Motors to $US203.70 Tuesday, a 3 per cent gain and a new closing high for the electric car company.

It was the first time Tesla closed over $US200.

Investors were reacting to reports of a meeting between Elon Musk, Tesla's chief executive officer and co-founder, and Apple's Adrian Perica, a former Goldman Sachs investment banker who heads Apple's mergers and acquisitions team, analysts said.

The meeting occurred in early 2013, but was reported by the San Francisco Chronicle this week, citing unnamed sources.

"There is a lot of pressure on Apple right now to find new markets to grow in," said Craig Irwin, an analyst with Wedbush Securities.

But Apple taking a bite of Tesla seems unlikely, he said.

Tuesday's closing stock price left Tesla with a market valuation of $US25 billion, about $US1.1 million for each of the 22,450 Model S cars it sold last year. The cars sell for $US70,000 to $US100,000, depending on options.

And that market valuation doesn't include any premium Apple would have to toss in as part of an acquisition.

"Apple does not have a history of paying massive premiums," Irwin said.

Indeed, the computer and smartphone maker has never tossed around the billions to purchase companies in the same way that technology rivals Google and Microsoft have.

"I see this as highly improbable," Irwin said. "But it is one of the things that drives enthusiasm for the stock."

Rumours that Apple will buy Tesla have pushed the electric car company's share price above $US200. Back to top

10:39am on 19 Feb 2014

Wages are going backwards once you factor in inflation.

More on the wage price index data released by the ABS this morning.

Real annual wage growth - that is, subtracting CPI - is negative. The last calendar year when this happened was 2000 when year-on-year inflation was running at 5.87 per cent.

Wages are going backwards once you factor in inflation.

10:18am on 19 Feb 2014

Institutional investors which took part in recruitment outfit Chandler Macleod’s $24.7 million placement in December at 45c must be scratching their heads why they bothered.

At the November AGM the company was upfront about the first half performance in 2013/14 being lower, but with the full year profit to be steady thanks to a second half rebound.

However, when releasing the December half earnings earlier today, the company stepped back from that full year commitment, saying only that it expects a stronger second half performance.

This put the shares under immediate pressure, dropping 15.5 per cent to 35.5c, with the low so far of 32c with the shares now at 18-month lows.

10:16am on 19 Feb 2014

Shares of iron ore miner Mt Gibson, one of the market darlings in the second half of last year, are taking a beating after revenue missed forecasts by $40 million.

Despite reporting bumper profit growth driven by record sales and revenue on Wednesday morning, the market was disappointed and the share price has tumbled 14.6 per cent to $1.025.

Revenue over the first-half of fiscal 2014 climbed 15 per cent from the previous corresponding period to $509.5 million, boosted by record iron ore sales. But analysts had forecast the miner to report revenue of up to $550 million.

The next challenge facing the West Australian iron ore producer is to demonstrate it can successfully deploy its cash holdings on mine extensions and new mine acquisitions to drive future earnings growth and justify a decision to scrap its interim dividend.

10:07am on 19 Feb 2014

Royal Dutch Shell has sold its downstream assets in Australia to Vitol, the world’s largest oil trader, and its partner Abu Dhabi Investment Council for about $2.4 billion, the AFR's StreetTalk is writing.

The successful consortium was fighting it out with the group comprising Macquarie Capital and powerful miner-trader Glencore Xstrata. TPG was also vying for the assets but has been out of the sale process for some time.

Shell was seeking to sell the business as part of a wider divestment program under global CEO Ben van Beurden. The company has set a global asset sales target of $US15 billion for 2014-15, including some of its Australian assets.

Some more from the ASIC inquiry: the Australian Securities and Investments Commission has defended its record as the country's main corporate watchdog, saying Australia doesn't have big enough penalties to deter corporate misconduct.

ASIC chairman Greg Medcraft told a Senate estimates hearing this morning that the regulator was upholding its mandate and called for tougher government policy to help it conduct its job better. ASIC is facing staunch criticism for its role in investigating a number of cases.

The Senate inquiry into its performance follows a number of articles in Fairfax Media that revealed serious misconduct and a cover-up by Commonwealth Bank's financial planning arm and the failure of ASIC to act promptly.

''It is frustrating - both for us and the public - when the penalty available to respond to misconduct is much less than the profit someone made in the process,'' Medcraft said. ''If this is so, then rational players in the market will routinely take that risk.

''If the thinking of law-breakers is a tussle between fear versus greed, then we need penalties that amplify the fear and smother the greed. We need penalties that create a fear that overcomes any desire to take risks and break the law.''

ASIC chair Greg Medcraft has defended the performance of the agency and the amount of international travel has has undertaken in the role. Photo: Jim RiceBack to top

10:04am on 19 Feb 2014

With its share price holding around $2 - back at levels not seen since early 2010, investor sentiment towards accounting software provider Reckon is clearly soft, as it battles newcomers such as aggressive Kiwi start-up Reckon.

But if insider buying is any guide, the outlook may be better than some in the market think, with the longstanding chief executive Clive Rabie reporting the purchase of 250,000 shares.

9:56am on 19 Feb 2014

Strong 2013 earnings from cancer treatment outfit Sirtex, coupled with its surge Tuesday to a new closing peak of $14.96 have split views on the outlook from here.

Baillieu Holst is still keen, with a 'buy' while upgrading its target price to a hefty $21 which, if achieved, would push the market cap over the $1 billion level.

Shares are currently ahead another 0.8 per cent at $15.08.

9:47am on 19 Feb 2014

Annual wage growth has slumped to its lowest level in the 16 years the ABS has been collecting data for its quarterly wage index data.

Which is unsurprising given there has been effectively no growth in employment for the past year, point out economists at RBC Capital, which has allowed unemployment to creep up to 6 per cent on a growing pool of labour.

The seasonally adjusted December quarter increase in the wage index was 0.6 per cent against expectations of a 0.7 per cent figure. Private sector wages grew 0.6 per cent against the previous quarter, while public sector wages increased by 0.9 per cent.

That pulled annual growth for the index down 1 percentage point to 2.6 per cent, the lowest since the index began in 1997.

The deceleration in wage growth is most obvious in professional services, "which is entirely consistent with the falls in employment in this sector recorded over the last few quarters," writes RBC Capital.

"How this translates into an outlook for inflation has been blurred by Q4’s [stronger than expected] CPI," writethe RBC Capital economists.

"Weak wage growth has not provided the kind of disinflationary pressures in the service sector that we would have expected, so there is some fear that benign wage costs are a necessary but not sufficient condition for modest underlying inflation."

"This being the case, the RBA is likely to be very sensitive to signs of an uptick in wage inflation. There was no sign of that today, and nor do we expect any sign of it until the unemployment rate peaks (which we expect will not occur until Q2). So the RBA narrative of weak wage growth providing an offset to higher tradeable inflation goes unchallenged – or at least until Q1 CPI."

Wage growth is at its lowest in at least 15 years.

9:35am on 19 Feb 2014

The dollar briefly slipped below 90 US cents for the first time this week, after the release of the fourth-quarter wages data, which showed wages are just inching higher.

Total hourly rates of pay, excluding bonuses, rose by a paltry 0.7 per cent in the December quarter, and the wage price index rose 2.6 per cent from a year earlier.

The quarterly rise was a bit stronger than the market had expected (+0.6%) and better than the 0.5 per cent growth of the previous quarter, but the forex traders still seem to consider the data a reason to sell.

Definitely not looking like there's an inflation threat coming from wages.

The dollar over the past month.

9:22am on 19 Feb 2014

Fortescue has joined in the dividend bonanza that is sweeping the Australian market this month, announcing a higher than expected half year dividend of 10 cents today.

The dividend paid out by Fortescue is almost double the 5.3 cents that analysts were expecting. The payout is equal to the full year dividend announced in 2013 and will see close to $103 million flow to Fortescue's biggest shareholder Andrew Forrest.

The dividend came as Fortescue reported a $US1.71 billion net profit for first half, which was slightly lower than the $US1.77 billion that a consensus of analysts were expecting. But it was better than the $US1.67 billion that UBS was expecting.

The result is a stunning 259 per cent higher than the first half of 2013, and reflects the huge rise in production that is underway at the iron ore miner.

Fortescue has also benefited from higher than expected iron ore prices over the past six months. Fortescue has kept its full year export guidance at 127 million tonnes, despite weather challenges over the past seven weeks.